The World Council of Churches

Elizabeth and Philip are seriously considering retirement. The next time they meet with Claudia they tell her and she says that she understands when agents feel like it’s time they rarely regret being pulled out. She’ll start discussions with the Center to get the ball rolling. Reacclimation takes 2-3 years, but they worry less about themselves for this decision and more for their kids. They’re especially concerned about Henry. Claudia advises not to tell him until they’ve actually left. On their own, Elizabeth and Philip think Paige would have the easiest time. Everytime we see Henry, you can see the pit in their stomachs grow. Henry is really happy. A full blooded American kid, he’s got a girlfriend and he’s looking forward to his future more every day. He even makes them dinner with his girlfriend to thank them for giving their blessing to go away for school. I can see very little being more traumatic for Henry to one day up and leave and be told the truth when they land in the Soviet Union.

Pastor Tim gets the offer for ministry work overseas and he takes it. Paige is happy but taken aback by it a bit. She’s really not sure how to react knowing that she helped to get him this offer to get rid of him. It is relief though and her parents have a muted, but welcome response when she tells them. A big surprise is after telling them, Paige takes off the crucifix she’s been wearing for years. Not just take it off, but throws it into the kitchen garbage can. Philip and Elizabeth are stunned and tell her she has to keep it on until he leaves. It’s a stark contrast to who Paige has been and believed in. It’s transformation how she holds Pastor Tim in her mind and that she’s more like her parents now. She asks more details about their past (where the name Jennings came from) and we also get to see her train by herself in the garage. Additionally, in a big surprise to me, Elizabeth and Philip seek council with Pastor Tim on moving the kids. With him moving on they must not see him as a threat and when you think about it, there’s no one else they can ask advice from. He has their same concerns- especially with Henry being completely in the dark.

Oleg gets more heat. He’s questioned again and this time the outright say it. It’s shady that William got busted when he shouldn’t have been under suspicion. Your contact with Stan and the other two Soviet agents who were in Stan’s sphere looks like more than a coincidence.  We’re sniffing you out for treason. Oleg handles it well and keeps himself safe (for now at least). His work on the food thing is major points in his standing with officials. It clearly helped him. He also manages to throw some influence around, keeping one of his informants out of jail. With all of this good work done, it also comes out that it looks like the investigation isn’t going to go any further. They’ll punish two or three people but it seems like Oleg has hit a corruption wall. One of his bosses puts the breaks on things for seemingly no logic reasoning. Oleg talks to his dad who offers help and Oleg turns it down. He wants to keep his father away from everything he’s dealing with to keep any potential fallout contained.

In a surprise scene, Mischa meets his uncle (Philip’s brother), aunt and cousin. I assume it’s the work of Gabriel to give Mischa a tether to family in replacement of meeting his father.

Stan and Dennis get blindsided. The mark they’ve been working with shows up with her boyfriend. They told her to keep him at arm’s length and not only is she engaged (!) she told him everything. Much like when Paige was talking to Pastor Tim, Stan and Dennis struggle to keep their faces from exposing their horror. They’re really quite during the meeting of this guy (who actually asks they give her more money for her dangerous work and that he can work for them too) and try their best to not tip their hand in any direction. Maintain calm to get out of this. Back at the office, Stan and Dennis have to re-evaluate everything. She’s as good as burned no matter what. She fell head over heels for this guy and the jig is up, they’ve lost control of this asset so what do they do now?

Finally, the show takes a flying kick to the face in the last scene. Tuan’s bully plan has worked.  Pascha is getting beat up. Elizabeth see’s the black eye herself when talking to his mother, Evgheniya, at their home. Elizabeth works to get Evgheniya to stand up to Alex to protect Pascha, but she says Alex won’t listen to her. The other half of the plan isn’t going to work. Pascha’s misery is enough to move the mother to want to go back to the Soviet Union but not the father. They need a new idea.

Tuan comes up with one on his own and doesn’t wait to put it into motion. He shows Pasha how to cut his wrists to miss the arteries and co-writes his suicide note. Do it just in time for when his parents can find him and force his father’s hand. Tuan is sure, whether Pascha lives or dies, that this will get them what they want.  Elizabeth and Philip rightfully freak out and Philip bolts to get to Pascha’s house when no one picks up the phone. To complicate matters, the Morozov house is being watched.

The season finale is next! The race is on at the very start of next week’s episode and whatever happens there is going to point the direction of what Elizabeth and Philip can do. There is a lot up in the air. The real logistics of leaving (besides the kids, what about the long term Kansas mission). Tuan has gone rogue with a sacrifice move in one of their missions. And where has Stan’s girlfriend Renee been? Is she a spy?

Fun season. The expansion from 6 to 10 episodes offered a larger and longer look into the Badlands that I liked a lot. We got to see much more of the world, many more locations and outside set pieces. Last year I can’t remember too many locations that were far from Baron compounds.

This season took off a few months after the end of the last where Quinn is considered dead, his son has taken his place, Sunny is locked up and MK is in some kind of monetary hiding to learn how to control his power.

The Widow is more or less the main focus as she upended the Baron power structure. Her aspirations to change the world, to essentially eliminate slavery, is an admirable one but she gets a lot of pushback from the other Barons. Then Quinn makes his presence known and throws everything into to disarray. Surprisingly, MK takes much more of a back seat for this run. While we see him in training, his arc is pretty simple and he comes in and out of the story in bursts, the point where he has little to do with the season finale.

Sunny’s whole push is to get to his wife and son which is quite the journey. Nick Frost plays the new character, Bajie, who was a great addition. You first meet him and think he’s just another prisoner, but they intertwine him well. All the scenes he’s in are mostly great and getting to see him fight is a blast.

Speaking of fights, I want to say there were more (or longer) fights per episode last season than in this one. That’s how I remember it but I’m probably wrong. While there are great sequences throughout, the real standouts are in episode 9 and 10. There’s some truly amazing choreography in the finale. The wire work is especially good. It’s superhuman but it still maintains a sense of real world weight.

The show is always drop dead gorgeous. Some of the best cinematography around and the action blocking and editing is second to none on TV. One of my favorite things about Into the Badlands is that there is no other show like it on TV. I like the world, the characters, the actors and the feeling of being somewhere familiar but ultimately new. Great set up for next season which is getting another bump in episode size.